The invention relates to a machine for the continuous roasting of products such as coffee, barley, substitutes, hazel nuts etcetera, and to a roasting method realizable with the said machine.
A process as delicate as it is important, to which products such as barley etcetera, and more particularly coffee, have to be subjected is, as is known, roasting by means of which the beans are dried by exposure to heat until they have taken on a characteristic light brown color. During the said process the coffee is, first of all, suitably and adequately heated, after which it is cooled. The major difficulties arise during the said first phase, that is to say the heating operation, since although the coffee has to be heated to dissipate the humidity contained therein and for the preparation thereof for consumption, the heating must neither be too great nor be applied for too long, otherwise the coffee could, in the first instance, get burnt, and in the second, undergo a decrease in the essential oils and in the aromatic substances which, during this phase, tend to penetrate towards the outside of the beans.